Water fight

Today was a scorcher of a day, 39-40c We stayed inside where it was cool for most of the day. We bought a table tennis table over with us so that the kids and us could still get some exercise over the really hot months, We have it set up in the family room and it takes the whole room up. Sean and I had a bit of a tournament today and I won 3 games he won 1 so at the moment I am the reigning champion.

The kids were hot and bored, so instead of going to the pools, Sean and I set about filling water bombs and placing them at different places out side then told the kids to get their togs on and come and have a water fight, so we had buckets of water, water guns, the hose and our water bombs.

The rules were the kids against mum and dad. That lasted a few minutes before I turned on Sean and started bombing him, so before long it was Sean and I against each other and the kids just squirting everyone. Sean having an advantage on me like those long legs and him being stronger to wrestle the hose out of my hands I had to come up with a plan. The water in the buckets and hose was like warm bath water (as we never have cold water in the cold tap) I had a big pump bottle in the fridge, so got that ran up to Sean while he was squirting me in the face with warm water, and let him have it, Well he squealed like a girl with the cold water.

We had heaps of fun and I think Sean and I probably had more fun than the kids, but it was a good way to cool down and water the grass at the same time.

Kangaroos

The kids and I still hadn't seen a living kangaroo since arriving so last night Sean took us to hearsons cove to go kangaroo hunting. We put the spot lights on and saw heaps. The kids had a big thrill as we managed to get really close to some of them, as they are like possums they stop when you shine a light in their face.

The are so cool to watch in the wild, Sean and I were having such a good time that we didn't realise the kids had all fallen asleep.

We also went for a quick drive out to woodside to see the place lit up at night, there was a huge flare going so I took a picture of that it was huge and hot.

On the way back I was amazed on how big Karratha actually is, as we were coming into town the lights of the town seemed to go on forever, I guess its a really long narrow town, not sure how many Kms will have to work that one out,

Christmas time in Karratha

The Xmas spirit is alive and kicking in Karratha, the community really gets in and makes Xmas special. Xmas is very much a big thing in schools, they all have class xmas parties, Kahaylas class went to school in their togs and had water slides and stuff. Santa made an appearance and gave everyone a present, then they had McDonalds for lunch... The teachers give their kids a present, card and candy canes galore, very spoilt kids. Our kids even made us Xmas presents at school. Tayden painted a platter, and Kahayla painted us a tea towel, and they were beautiful presents (Sean is modelling them for the pics lol)

Santa also visits every street in Karratha in a fire engine and you can hear him coming from miles away, Each day he visits a different suburb. When he arrived everyone is out in the street to welcome him and he throws bags of lollies out for everyone. The kids were so excited, and the day he visited Millars Well was also the day the TV cameras visited to. Tayden got his one second of fame on the news a few nights later. Two days after we went for our evening ride on our bikes. There are bike tracks everywhere and they weave there way around all the suburbs making it easy for the kids to ride to school with out going near the roads. This day we were riding in a neighbouring suburb and Santa happened to be there too, so our kids were thrown more bags of lollies as they were riding past, another thrill for them.

Xmas day was alot better than I had expected, The kids woke us at 6am so excited. We had Michelle and Paul (our neighbours) over for a champagne breakfast and they stayed till 2 pm then we rode our bikes around to some friends Sandy and Micks (shes a hairdresser hes a digger driver hmmm old sean and Karen really) We stayed there for a few drinks and saw our first snake since being here, it was a king brown and it was by the pool the girls were swimming in at the time. ewwwww scary. The kids were fascinated by it but I had to stress to them that if it bit them it would kill them.

We rode home to get Xmas dinner going and Phil and his stepdaughter turned up, so we played cricket in the backyard, had dinner and then it was singstar for the rest of the night. So even though we weren't at home with family and friends, who we are missing like mad, we managed to have a pretty good xmas.....

Karratha

Well I'm going to summarise the last 7 weeks and bring this blog up to date

We flew into Karratha on the 6th November and was greeted with the hottest weather I have ever been in, my first impressions of Karratha were that it was dry brown and HOT, but it has grown on me and I now see the beauty of this place.

We moved straight into our house and our furniture arrived about a month after us, so now the place feels more like home.

In the time we have been here the kids started school at Millars Well Primary which is pretty close to home, they have made some good friends. We have a hand full of good friends now which is good for us.

We have been to a few places locally

Point Samson, a lovely little coastal town that reminded me a lot of Waipu Cove, there is a pub on the beach front where you can sink a beer and have fish and chips at the end of a day at the beach.

Dampier is very close about 10mins away and boasts 42 stunning islands, and some of the best fishing WA has to offer apparently, also in Dampier is the port for Hamersley Iron, massive ships can be seen waiting out at sea to come in and the ships docked are monstrous. Makes our coastal tankers and crude ships that dock at marsden point look like dingys.....

Hearsons Cove, a lovely little beach where the desert reaches the shore, its very close to the LNG Plant where Sean works on the Burrup Peninsula, Only good when the tide is in though but makes for a spectacular scene when the moon is right and the tide is completely out I haven't witnessed it yet but they call this the stairway to the moon...

Cleaverville Beach, we went we saw we left, a lot of driving for a very rocky beach, good for fishing but no good for swimming.

40 mile beach, my favourite spot yet, beautiful sandy beach a bit if a drive to get there but well worth it, crystal clear blue waters and the wildlife is amazing, we saw a humongous stingray, 4 turtles and a octopus or squid, apparently if you go out there at night when the tide is low you can walk along the reef and pick up crayfish, I'm keen on that idea!!!

Miaree pool, lovely little oasis in the middle of an arid surrounding, didn't go swimming as it was too hot to be out of the car but is a popular spot for swimming on a not so hot day.

Attempted to go to the famous Jump up on the Burrup Peninsula, a treacherous 4WD track to some of the best beaches, We thought we drove to it, gave the landcruiser a bit of a work out just getting there but didn't do the jump up or what we thought was the jump up because we hadn't planned on doing it and weren't prepared with water and air compressor and supplies and stuff if we got stuck, so just walked it. later found out we were in the wrong place anyway so will have to revisit that area.

We have very limited photos up till now as we had lost our camera in Perth, but that has been replaced now so will be able to post some pictures when we go to these places again.

We are planning a trip down south in the next week to a place called Exmouth, about 5-6 hours away.

moving from New Zealand to Karratha

Deciding to make the move from Whangarei to Karratha in Western Australia was an exciting but scary one.

The day had arrived our furniture shipped and on its way and time for us to embark on a new adventure.

1st of november saw us fly out of Whangarei to Auckland then on to Perth. We flew business class which was great but I did feel a little guilty to be there with 3 children. But the kids were great and we were all treated like superstars and was a very nice way to start our journey.

Perth is an amazing city, a place that I could easily slot into, We stayed for 5 nights and took in some of the sites perth has to offer.

Harbour Town is a must if you are in Perth, some of the best shopping I have experienced a great place to spend some serious money.

Adventure World is great for the kids and good on a hot day as there is lots of hydroslides and pools for the kids and also rides like you would find at rainbows end.

The trains and buses are very easy and reliable to use, most of the transport around the CBD is free.

As a whole perth is lovely the weather was great the city was clean, and I look forward to many holidays there.

Last family photo at the airport, (thanks Tanita for the photo)